Google offers 1 GB of free email!

[jmoore2001]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/interne....ap/index.html


Is this an April fools joke??

[f1oored]

You could fit a lot of spam in there.

[RobRich]

I haven't heard anything about this, and I am subjected to Google-related news on a near daily basis.

Does anyone receive the San Francisco Chronicle? If so, check today's C-1 page. Here is a supposed online copy....

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg.../01/GOOGLE.TMP

Robert Richmond

[brian0555]

looks like it *seems* to be true http://news.google.com/news?q=google...-8&sa=N&tab=nn


and http://gmail.com/

[Optimus Prime]

April fools says I.

[f1oored]

OP - everything is an april fools joke to you

[vass0922]

The service is real, however. The advertisement injection has sparked fierce internal debates, reports The NY Times. "Many people inside the company are worried that users might fear that the content of their e-mail messages could be used to tailor individual advertising messages, much as ad messages are now placed on pages tied to specific responses to search inquiries."

Seems advertising will be a big thing in the emails :/
Content based ads in the emails themself

Yahoo will be next on the ads part
except they'll stick with 4 megs

[RobRich]

April fools says I.

This is why I was tempted to just sleep today and forget about TIMO/RR. I am going to have a long day sorting out the real stories and deals from the pranks.

[RobRich]

Content based ads in the emails themself

Google has mentioned this idea before, but I can not conceptualize embedded context ads (even targeted ads) earning enough revenue to support such massive storage limits.

Robert Richmond

[brandon184]

This is why I was tempted to just sleep today and forget about TIMO/RR.

Then do it.

Google has mentioned this idea before, but I can not conceptualize embedded context ads (even targeted ads) earning enough revenue to support such massive storage limits.

It's a craze within the hosting industry. It's called overselling. Get a server with a 60 gig hard drive, and put 50 people on that server, promising each one a gig of space. They'll be fine, because most of those people won't even use 50 megs. Google knows that 99% of the email members will not come close to approaching their 1 gig limit. They also know that hardware needed for storage is continuously dropping in price. And, it's Google.. They can afford to have an operation that doesn't turn a huge profit (if any profit) - as long as it's driving attention to their name.

It's not necessarily the most wild idea - but I'm not sure if I believe it yet, myself.

- Brandon

[RobRich]

Add another to the source list....

http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news...le.php/3334201

I am familiar with overselling, but 1GB per email account at even a minimal average utilization factor across the board would seem to be a stretch given current hardware prices.

Text emails do compress very well, perhaps Google will also be employing advanced compression routines to squeeze the space. In theory, a 1GB account comprised of mostly text could be compressed upwards of 90+%.

Robert Richmond

[brandon184]

Originally posted by RobRich
I am familiar with overselling, but 1GB per email account at even a minimal average utilization factor across the board would seem to be a stretch given current hardware prices.

Personally, as a moderate email user - it'd take me years to build up 1 gig of email. That's not taking into account any sort of compression utilized. By the time most people start pushing several hundred MB of storage, I'm sure the cost per GB as far as storage is concerned would be considerably lower than it is now.

Brandon

[brandon184]

Slashdot Article
CNET.com Article

edit --> Looking increasingly valid... I see a "Free 1GB Email? GOOGLE RULES!!!" mentality forming. If this turns out to be false, there's going to be a lot of unhappy campers.

[RobRich]

I see a "Free 1GB Email? GOOGLE RULES!!!" mentality forming.

I do too, and even as much as I like Google, I am not sure this a good thing.

[Messiah89]

Hmm, not sure how it will play out, but I would definetely get an account to try it.

[vass0922]

no kidding, especially if they allow POP mail as they say they will (in the future, not immediately available)

[Droppyale]

ohh sweet.. no more hotmail

[osprey4]

Looks like another spam-ridden domain I'll need to block.

[phenious]

If i had to take a guess I would say, if true, they will have limits on the data left in storage... 1MB attchments and those will automatcically get deleted after a month ect. anything over 10K gets deleted each month. This would keep your e-mail weeded out.

-: phenious :-

[omalleytrading]

If this is true, it's a very bad idea...

We need to get rid of these "free e-mail" services, not add more. Yahoo and Hotmail accounts are where a large percentage of spam e-mail originates. Adding yet another big player just makes that situation worse.